Identifying and prioritizing barriers and challenges of Social Innovation implementation in the Public Sector

Social innovation (SI) is one of the latest approaches for empowering the public sector (PS). Because of the bureaucratic nature of the PS, implementation of social innovations in PS faces many challenges. This study is trying to identify and prioritize these barriers and challenges focusing on the judicial sector. This study has used a mixed-method. In the qualitative stage, by reviewing the literature and applying the focus group interview method with 12 experts, 40 barriers and challenges were organized into seven categories. In the quantitative step, 18 experts that were identified based on the purposive sampling method have answered the questionnaire and the challenges were prioritized using a fuzzy TOPSIS method. The results showed that the lack of a proper regulatory system for social innovators is the main challenge the SI faces in the judicial system. Finally, structural, functional, and behavioral recommendations were provided to remove these barriers.